A new name may play an unexpectedly big role in the Robert Mueller investigation: Hope Hicks. The 29-year-old director of White House communications is coming under scrutiny for comments she allegedly made in regard to Donald Trump Jr.'s controversial meeting with Russians during the campaign, reports the New York Times. Hicks reportedly said emails showing that the meeting was set up to get dirt on Hillary Clinton "will never get out," a statement that rang alarm bells for the then-spokesman of Trump's legal team because it could be construed as obstruction of justice. Details:
- Background: This is coming to light because Mark Corallo, the former spokesman for Trump's legal team in the campaign, has agreed to be interviewed by Mueller. The special counsel is focusing on the meeting at Trump Tower, and how the president and his team later released a statement saying the meeting was primarily about Russian adoption policy and not Clinton, per the Times.
- The warning: Sources say Corallo plans to tell Mueller that he warned Trump and Hicks that their statement disguising the true nature of the meeting would backfire because Trump Jr.'s own emails would surface. He says Hicks then asserted that wouldn't happen because so few people had access to them. Corallo has told people he was alarmed that Hicks said that in the presence of the president and without a lawyer on the phone.